Stories of many college women’s basketball players have been left untold. Running in parallels is the story of USC Trojans’ Juju Watkins. She took up basketball only at the age of seven. Since then, Juju and her sport have been inseparable. She started playing at the park league and was trained by the assistant coach of the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers, Phil Handy. Moreover, she developed her gameplay after 3x WNBA All-Star Arike Ogunbowale. Fast forward to last year, she was named the Gatorade Player of the Year.

Recently, the Trojans guard has showcased outstanding performance with 27 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game, while shooting with a field goal percentage of 40.5%. However, in her recent Pac-12 conference title championship game, Stanford’s strong defense kept Juju away from scoring to limit Juju from infusing the scoring momentum in the game. As a result, she could only score 9 points, 3 rebounds, and an assist on her team’s memorable conference-winning night. With many more accolades to come along in March Madness, let’s explore the support behind Juju’s ongoing resilience.

Juju Watkins’ parents – the driving force behind Juju’s strength

Determination and support are the two words that are dedicatedly followed in the Watkins family. Notably, both of Juju’s parents have been athletes in their younger days. Juju’s father Robert-Neal Watkins used to play football during his time in college. On the other hand, Juju’s mother Sari is a former college-level track and field athlete. However, there is not enough knowledge about the career she pursued after college or does today.

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Despite being a former football player, Robert trained Juju while playing basketball with her in their backyard, to make Juju a better player. Their time in their backyard basketball was all about foundation and repetitions. He also revealed the quick grasping trait in Juju as whatever they would work on, she would immediately implement on the court.

Similarly, cementing Juju’s moral foundations, Sari focused on improving her game, hence, they made sure that Juju turned out to be a good person instead of focusing just on Juju’s rise to fame. Interestingly, both Sari and Robert wanted Juju to become a tennis player like Venus and Serena Williams as Juju’s older sister was already pursuing a tennis career.

However, Juju was wishing for something different. “I had to go to my mom and be like, ‘I want to do this.’ For her to be like, ‘OK, well now let me put you in something.”

“They really forced me to really want to be serious about something because their whole thing is, ‘Don’t do nothing if you’re not going to be fully in it,” she added expressing the depth of her parents’ solemn perspective towards what she was asking. “That’s something that I live by, be really passionate behind what you choose to do,” shared Juju, about how she dedicated every fiber of her being to basketball.

Juju Watkins’ Locker Room: Kevin Garnett Applauds Viral Speech

But how did they do it? Explore, in the next segment, how Juju’s parents’ active support turned her game around.

Juju Watkins – homeschooled on basketball

Despite being athletes themselves, Juju’s parents didn’t pursue their possible careers in their sports. Moreover, they dedicated their time and effort to support their four children in their pursuit of becoming the best at what they do. As a result, Sari invested her time with Juju when she asked Sari to teach her to play basketball.

The pivotal conversation between the two went like this, as Sari puts it, “I remember asking her, ‘What’s wrong? And she’s like, ‘Mom, can you please teach me how to play basketball? Please, Mom, just please can you and Dad teach me what to do?” Then that was it. The Watkins sat down that night at the kitchen table and figured out a training plan for Juju.

Juju’s basketball journey took off. From the next day on and for the next couple of years, Juju practiced with her parents in the backyard every day. Sometimes she also practiced at the Watts gym, which has been named after her great-grandfather, Ted Watkins Sr., who was a civil rights activist in the 1960s. That’s right, Juju has one of the purest forms of noble blood rushing through her veins.

Now, Juju and Robert would head toward the backyard as soon as he would get home from work. Starting with 100, they would go to 200 then 300, and more. “When we started in the backyard, it was always about the foundation and the repetition. We were always making sure we were adding to her value and her skillset,” Robert recalled those days, “She wasn’t afraid of taking risks,” he added, which is something all of us have witnessed while she performs in crucial plays.

Fast forward to seventh grade, things actually started to fall in place for Juju, as she recalls, “I realized I was good when I was 12. I ended up actually getting ranked for the first time, right when I finished that summer.” This unexpected accolade boosted unreal confidence in Juju as she spiritually pledged to never let go of the sport as she finally understood how much her hard work had paid off that day.

“I don’t really know how to explain my talent because I do put in the work, but honestly, I think some things are just God-given talents. That’s when I got serious about the game and my love for the game evolved. It’s also when I saw my hard work pay off and saw a glimpse of how far basketball could take me,” Juju said as she recalled having a feeling of being born once again. As a result, along with Juju herself, others including parents, players, and coaches too started to take notice of her hard-earned potential.

Watkins attributes maintaining consistency in life as the supreme priority. Juju’s parents have impacted her growth and development in basketball on a holistic and resilient level, that will resonate in Juju’s life forever.